12 All the nations will call you blessed,for you will be a delightful land,says the Lord of hosts.
13 Your words are too much for me, says the Lord.You ask, “What have we spoken against you?”
14 You have said, “It is useless to serve God;what do we gain by observing God’s requirements,And by going about as mournersbefore the Lord of hosts?
15 But we call the arrogant blessed;for evildoers not only prosperbut even test God and escape.”
16 Then those who fear the Lord spoke with one another,and the Lord listened attentively;A record book was written before himof those who fear the Lord and esteem his name.
17 They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts,my own special possession, on the day when I take action.And I will have compassion on them,as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
18 Then you will again distinguishbetween the just and the wicked,Between the person who serves God,and the one who does not.